AFL-CIO Leaders Say Unions Have a Role In Saving the Country

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In speeches and in press releases over the last year, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has pointed out that unions are uniquely qualified by their very nature to lead the country out of what he has called a “dark period,” a time when hateful speech and vitriol emanate from the White House and are found in abundance everywhere else. Unions, he notes, bring together all kinds of people in a fight that is common to the vast majority, a fight for a better life for oneself and for the next generation.

The AFL-CIO executive council, including 55 presidents of most of the nation’s unions, are gathering here today a day ahead of the convening of their 2019 Winter meeting. The council, which will run from March 12 thru 14, happens at a time when the majority of voters, Democrats and independents, but even Republicans, are strongly in support of progressive programs. The meeting here comes at a time when Democratic enthusiasm is at an all-time early high for many of the 14 presidential candidates that have emerged thus far for the primaries.

Much of that enthusiasm reflects a country sick of Donald Trump and all the scandals swirling around him. Labor activists gathering here seem to reflect that disgust, coupled with anger, over the president’s constant attacks on labor.